Alternative Information

Aromatherapy is a well known holistic method for healing, but when boosted by the quickly penetrating carrier hemp seed oil, the healing potential is magnified exponentially. No other carrier oil can take the beneficial medicinal qualities of aromatic essential oils as quickly through the epidermis as hemp seed oil, so if your lotions and salves are missing it, you're not doing your body justice, but it's not too late?.

Many of you are familiar with local retailer Hemp Essentials at 624 Lincoln Avenue. But Hemp Essentials' holistic bath and body line is also available elsewhere in town, and it's a good thing- because this unbeatable skin line has just gone nationwide, and the retail store has just closed. Owner and formulator Heather Howell-Durand has moved her bustling factory to her home and will be opening a larger factory in Steamboat's west end later this summer.

Those who have tried Hemp Essentials' lotions, healing serums, or soaps for your dry skin or other malady, know that there's something different about these formulas. Instead of waiting for weeks for something to work on your ailment, whether it's physical or emotional, you feel better in days. And it isn't because there's something super-powered in the lavender essential oil, it's because the essential oils are being taken through your epidermis on the wings of a super oil.

If you've met Howell, even once, you'll have heard her soapbox for hemp: "Hemp seed oil is the only oil in the plant kingdom that can penetrate the lipid layer of your skin" and take the healing powers of the essential oils straight to the bloodstream, kicking in nearly immediately. And if you haven't met Howell, she's the biggest promoter of hemp you'll meet, and rightfully so. She's not just bragging to make a sale; she knows that her products work better than any other!

Howell discovered the powers of hemp through much research during graduate school at Colorado State University in Ft. Collins while getting her masters in Hemp Textile Design. Just as hemp seed oil sneaks through the protective outer layer of your skin, the power of it snuck into Howell's life. She began formulating lotions and soaps with fragrance (unnatural) oils and selling them at fairs and expositions. But the additional ingredients that are combined with the hemp seed oil become so magnified that without using 100% pure products, Howell felt this skin line would be paradoxical.

This is what pushed Howell to "go organic" in 2002. She began using all natural and pure essential oils, supportive carrier oils, and herbs. And her clients noticed. Suddenly she was consulting on emotional ailments from menopause to sleeplessness, physical ailments from joint pain to psoriasis, and she was hearing of amazing results. Howell decided to get her degree as a Certified Clinical Aromatherapist to better serve her clients and begin teaching aromatherapy.

Their healing powers of essential oils lie in their highly concentrated plant essences that can heal many physical and emotional dis-ease. Howell sees many customers with stress, tension, physical aches, and dermatological ailments that come to her after they've tried everything else. Within days of trying one of seven blends of Hemp Essentials her customers notice rapid healing results. Howell is as dedicated to her clients as she is to her research, and will formulate special blends for specific ailments if requested. What she finds most important is educating her clients on the benefits of aromatherapy while dispelling the myths of hemp and its oil.

Currently the natural product market is based mostly on what we put inside our bodies. Stores seem the least concerned with what we put on our skin. Most of the products on bathroom shelves right now- even those claiming to be natural- will likely have alcohol, petroleum, or drying chemicals in their ingredients. The epidermis is the largest organ in the human body, yet it's treated with the poorest respect. Putting anything other than natural products on the skin will affect the physical and emotional well-being. Hemp Essentials' unrefined hemp seed oil products support the inner, or "lipid" layer of the epidermis, replenishing the natural oil that the lipid layer produces instead of blocking and depleting it as all other oils and lotions do. Hemp seed oil not only carries the essential oils quickly through the skin, but it rejuvenates and protects the skin as well, giving it a younger and healthier look. And of course, by disposing of these natural products down your sinks, you can sleep well at night knowing that your environment isn't suffering from your body products either.

To most, this philosophy of naturalism seems obviously beneficial, yet again, most bath and body products say one thing and do another (or nothing at all). The conscious choice is up to you!

Andy Jehn has been a contributor for The Local since its inception and is a freelance writer and published author. She is also founder of her own Alternative Healing practice, Innerself Lightworks, practicing many of metaphysics' fine arts.